Best Movies of 1980
by terrence-gale | created - 08 Feb 2014 | updated - 30 Mar 2014 | PublicHere are my selections for the best movies of 1980.
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1. Ordinary People (1980)
R | 124 min | Drama
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.
Director: Robert Redford | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 56,665 | Gross: $54.80M
2. Breaker Morant (1980)
PG | 107 min | Drama, History, War
Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters, Bryan Brown
Votes: 14,421 | Gross: $7.14M
3. The Elephant Man (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud
Votes: 258,356
4. Raging Bull (1980)
R | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Votes: 380,070 | Gross: $23.38M
5. Tess (1979)
PG | 186 min | Drama, Romance
A strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, John Collin
Votes: 18,257
6. My Brilliant Career (1979)
G | 100 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A proud young woman in early 20th century Australia must choose between marriage and independence.
Director: Gillian Armstrong | Stars: Judy Davis, Sam Neill, Wendy Hughes, Robert Grubb
Votes: 4,801
7. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,379,225 | Gross: $290.48M
8. The Stunt Man (1980)
R | 131 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.
Director: Richard Rush | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield
Votes: 10,450 | Gross: $7.06M
9. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,502 | Gross: $67.18M
10. Fame (1980)
R | 134 min | Drama, Music, Musical
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Eddie Barth, Irene Cara, Lee Curreri, Laura Dean
Votes: 24,683 | Gross: $0.12M
11. The Great Santini (1979)
PG | 115 min | Drama
As he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated Marine pilot.
Director: Lewis John Carlino | Stars: Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe, Lisa Jane Persky
Votes: 6,942
12. The Shining (1980)
R | 146 min | Drama, Horror
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers
Votes: 1,106,072 | Gross: $44.02M
13. Airplane! (1980)
PG | 88 min | Comedy
After the crew becomes sick with food poisoning, a neurotic ex-fighter pilot must safely land a commercial airplane full of passengers.
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker | Stars: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Votes: 260,963 | Gross: $83.40M
14. Melvin and Howard (1980)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
The story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 5,300 | Gross: $4.31M
15. My Bodyguard (1980)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
When a boy comes to a new school and gets harassed by a bully, he acquires the services of the school's most feared kid as a bodyguard.
Director: Tony Bill | Stars: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon, Paul Quandt
Votes: 10,836 | Gross: $22.48M
16. The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Comedy
A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
Director: Jamie Uys | Stars: N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, Louw Verwey
Votes: 59,441 | Gross: $30.03M
17. Nine to Five (1980)
PG | 109 min | Comedy
Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 39,404 | Gross: $103.29M
18. Private Benjamin (1980)
R | 109 min | Comedy, War
A sheltered young high-society woman joins the United States Army on a whim and finds herself in a trickier situation than she ever expected.
Director: Howard Zieff | Stars: Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante, Robert Webber
Votes: 28,679 | Gross: $69.85M
19. Gloria (1980)
PG | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When a young boy's family is killed by the mob, their tough neighbor Gloria becomes his reluctant guardian. In possession of a book that the gangsters want, the pair go on the run in New York.
Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, Buck Henry, Julie Carmen, Tony Knesich
Votes: 11,425
20. The Big Red One (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama, War
A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.
Director: Samuel Fuller | Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di Cicco
Votes: 21,386
21. Inside Moves (1980)
PG | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Handicapped after an unsuccessful suicide attempt, a man finds common ground in the troubled souls at a local dive bar.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid, Amy Wright
Votes: 2,281
22. Altered States (1980)
R | 102 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid
Votes: 38,622 | Gross: $19.85M
23. Dressed to Kill (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Votes: 48,193 | Gross: $31.90M
24. The Changeling (1980)
R | 107 min | Horror, Mystery
After the death of his wife and daughter in a car crash, a music professor staying at a long-vacant Seattle mansion is dragged into a decades-old mystery by an inexplicable presence in the mansion's attic.
Director: Peter Medak | Stars: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh
Votes: 39,983
25. Mad Max (1979)
R | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Votes: 222,224 | Gross: $8.75M
26. Hopscotch (1980)
R | 106 min | Adventure, Comedy
Grounded with a desk job by incompetent superiors, a clever CIA agent retires and writes a tell all memoir that will embarrass his bosses, prompting him to go on the run and elude them.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Sam Waterston, Ned Beatty
Votes: 8,943
27. The Tempest (1979)
R | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy
Banished to a forsaken island, the Right Duke of Milan and Sorcerer Prospero gets the chance to take his revenge on the King of Naples with the assistance of his airy spirit-servant, Ariel.
Director: Derek Jarman | Stars: Peter Bull, David Meyer, Neil Cunningham, Heathcote Williams
Votes: 1,243
28. Union City (1980)
PG | 87 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A man is so obsessed with finding the person responsible for stealing his milk bottles that he ignores his beautiful young wife, who has other ideas on her mind.
Director: Marcus Reichert | Stars: Dennis Lipscomb, Debbie Harry, Sam McMurray, Terry Walsh
Votes: 462
29. Stardust Memories (1980)
PG | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
While attending a retrospective of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault
Votes: 23,982 | Gross: $10.39M
30. Carny (1980)
R | 107 min | Drama
Tired of her dull job as a waitress, Donna decides to join two carnival hustlers and see what life in their field is like.
Director: Robert Kaylor | Stars: Gary Busey, Jodie Foster, Robbie Robertson, Meg Foster
Votes: 2,436
31. Urban Cowboy (1980)
PG | 132 min | Drama, Romance, Western
Bud is a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, Madolyn Smith Osborne
Votes: 16,810 | Gross: $53.30M
32. The Idolmaker (1980)
PG | 117 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Based on the life of rock promoter/producer Bob Marcucci, who discovered, among others, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Ray Sharkey, Tovah Feldshuh, Peter Gallagher, Paul Land
Votes: 1,502
33. American Gigolo (1980)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A Los Angeles escort is accused of a murder which he did not commit.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, Nina van Pallandt
Votes: 29,422 | Gross: $23.00M
34. Resurrection (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy
A woman enters the afterlife briefly after a car crash that kills her husband. But she survives - and finds herself possessing strange powers.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom
Votes: 3,419 | Gross: $3.91M
35. Divine Madness (1980)
R | 95 min | Documentary, Comedy, Music
Movie comedy queen Bette Midler reigns supreme in this rocking, rolling concert movie bash. The Divine Miss M at her trashiest, flashiest, heavenly best!
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Bette Midler, Jocelyn Brown, Ula Hedwig, Diva Gray
Votes: 948 | Gross: $0.77M
36. The Competition (1980)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Romance, Music
Paul Dietrich, at almost 30 years old, is a fading piano prodigy. Heidi Schoonover is a talented young pianist with a promising future. When Paul hears of an upcoming competition that could make his career, he dedicates himself to winning.
Director: Joel Oliansky | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick, Sam Wanamaker
Votes: 2,849 | Gross: $14.29M
37. A Small Circle of Friends (1980)
R | 113 min | Drama
Harvard in the 60's: a time of social upheaval and student unrest. Three students bond together, challenge the system, and begin to lose their ideals.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Brad Davis, Karen Allen, Jameson Parker, Shelley Long
Votes: 506
38. How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980)
PG | 105 min | Comedy, Crime
A caper comedy about three suburban housewives who, in order to beat inflation and subsidize their alimony checks, plot to steal $1 million from a large plastic ball which is displayed in a local shopping center.
Director: Robert Scheerer | Stars: Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin, Jessica Lange, Richard Benjamin
Votes: 1,993
39. Somewhere in Time (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.
Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright
Votes: 32,516 | Gross: $9.71M
40. The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
PG | 105 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Miss Jane Marple comes to solve the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Angela Lansbury, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Geraldine Chaplin
Votes: 9,433
41. Xanadu (1980)
PG | 96 min | Fantasy, Musical, Romance
A struggling artist living in Los Angeles meets a girl who may hold the key to his happiness.
Director: Robert Greenwald | Stars: Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly, Michael Beck, James Sloyan
Votes: 15,385 | Gross: $22.76M
42. Bye Bye Brazil (1980)
R | 110 min | Drama
The Caravana Rolidei rolls into town with the Gypsy Lord at the mike: he does magic tricks, the erotic Salomé dances, and the mute Swallow performs feats of strength. A young accordion ... See full summary »
Director: Carlos Diegues | Stars: José Wilker, Betty Faria, Fábio Jr., Zaira Zambelli
Votes: 1,949
43. Fade to Black (1980)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Crime, Horror
A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
Director: Vernon Zimmerman | Stars: Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford, Norman Burton
Votes: 4,993
44. The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
PG | 84 min | Family, Horror, Mystery
When a family moves to a country home, the young girls experience strange happenings that have a link to an occult event years past.
Directors: John Hough, Vincent McEveety | Stars: Bette Davis, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Kyle Richards, Carroll Baker
Votes: 7,061 | Gross: $5.00M
45. Caddyshack (1980)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Sport
An exclusive golf course has to deal with a flatulent new member and a destructive dancing gopher.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Ted Knight
Votes: 127,146 | Gross: $39.85M
46. The Fog (1980)
R | 89 min | Horror, Thriller
An unearthly fog rolls into a small coastal town exactly 100 years after a ship mysteriously sank in its waters.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Houseman
Votes: 82,953 | Gross: $21.38M
47. Friday the 13th (1980)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A group of teenage camp counselors attempt to re-open an abandoned summer camp with a tragic past, but they are stalked by a mysterious, relentless killer.
Director: Sean S. Cunningham | Stars: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan
Votes: 157,379 | Gross: $39.75M
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